Law to enable credits for CO2 dumps: "There is currently no specific legislative or regulatory framework for CCS in Australia," the report said. "There are, however, existing state and federal laws and regulations with relevance to various aspects of CCS. At the state level, the Queensland Petroleum and Gas (Protection and Safety) Act 2004 and the South Australian Petroleum Act 2000, for example, ‘provide for the transport by pipeline and storage in natural reservoirs of substances including carbon dioxide’."

Cooperation should be extended: "At the Commonwealth level, environmental laws relevant to CCS include:

• the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999;

• the Environment Protection (Sea Dumping) Act 1981; and the Offshore Petroleum Act 2006.

Need for new laws to enable waste dumps:" Current legislative arrangements involve multiple jurisdictions and approvals. It is desirable to achieve consistent legislation across all states and territories. Similar sedimentary storage sites in different states should be treated in the same way as far as practicable. Co-operation should be extended so that CO2 produced in one state may be able to be stored in another where long-term and secure storage is proximate and suitable".

No CCS-specific regulatory framework: "The Australian Government is currently in the process of developing a nationally consistent regulatory framework.

• In September 2003, the MCMPR9 established a Geosequestration Regulatory Working Group (consisting of all federal, state and territory jurisdictions) to develop draft regulatory guiding principles for CCS;

• In November 2004, the MCMPR charged its Contact Officers Group with reporting on how to implement a legislative framework to regulate CCS in Australia. Although there is no CCS specific regulatory framework, it was suggested that legislation associated with the petroleum and mineral exploration industries covering approval processes, environmental protection, transport of gases by pipeline (although not specifically CO2), a legislative regime for storage and injection of gases as part of a petroleum recovery operation might provide a foundation."

Support for MCMPR: "A significant volume of evidence to the inquiry was supportive of the MCMPR initiative and its recommendation for amendment to existing petroleum legislation rather than the development of totally new legislation where possible.

Chevron, for example, stated that: 'While new or amended legislation may be required to allow the injection of carbon dioxide, many aspects of existing legislation, regulation or the principles behind existing regulation can be readily adapted to facilitate geosequestration projects.' Chevron suggests using or adapting existing laws and regulations for areas such as:

• environmental impact assessment;

• the transportation of CO2;

• the design, drilling and production regulations in relation to petroleum wells; and

• disposal management plans.

According to Anglo Coal: 'On balance therefore we think incorporation into existing petroleum legislation is the most practicable route, given that there will be a vital need to promote co-development and to reconcile conflicts between overlapping tenements - both of which would be difficult to achieve if the respective tenements were housed in different regulatory structures with different regulators'.”

Reference: ‘Between a rock and a hard place: The science of geosequestration’. House of Representatives, Standing Committee on Science and Innovation, August 2007, Canberra. For Media comment: contact the Committee Chair, Mr Petro Georgiou MP. Phone: (02) 6277 4419 or the Deputy Chair, Mr Harry Quick MP. Phone: (02) 6277 4304. For information: contact the Committee Secretary. Phone: (02) 6277 4150. Issued by: Liaison and Projects Office, House of Representatives. Phone: (02) 6277 2392. Copies of the report can be obtained from the website:
http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/scin/geosequestration/index.htm

Very leaky investigation: Premier Peter Beattie had called the AFP 'the Keystone Cops' and their investigation into Haneef 'almost farcical' after a newspaper report said Haneef had been linked with an alleged threat to the Q1 skyscraper on the Gold Coast. There was persistent leaking by the police, but there was no apology yesterday for the seemingly endless stream of leaks from the investigating task force. At a press conference in Perth on Thursday, Keelty spoke publicly for the first time since it was revealed prosecutors had wrongly claimed Haneef's SIM card was found in the burning vehicle used in the attack on Glasgow Airport.

Error not made by AFP: "I point out that error was made by the prosecutor," Keelty said. "The facts that the AFP or the investigation team had put before the court were correct. The prosecutor made an oral submission that was incorrect." He said he was disappointed with Beattie's criticisms but said he understood his frustrations over the case. By criticising the Haneef investigation, Beattie was criticising his own police force, he said. Keelty revealed one of the team involved in the case dropped dead while on duty last week, on the same day Andrews cancelled Haneef's visa.

Under a lot of pressure: "There are enormous pressures here," Keelty said. Keelty repeatedly said the AFP had acted professionally. By ignoring the leaking, he put the emphasis on the main mistake, which was made in the court room by one of the prosecutor's team.

Distinct tenure briefly considered: To recognise the unique nature of CO2 geosequestration, a different tenure, distinct from the existing petroleum tenure, was also contemplated. Queensland was committed to using the MCMPR Regulatory Guiding Principles to develop CCS legislation.

Key issues for new laws: The legislation would aim to be consistent with the MCMPR Regulatory Guiding Principles and deal with the following range of issues:

• location of suitable sites;

• appropriate tenure type and term of tenure;

• capture and transport of CO2;

• access to that land;

• injection of CO2;

• storage of CO2;

• safety;

• monitoring of stored CO2;

• liability, including post-closure/post-project;

• financial;

• approval and assessment

Proposed CCS tenure model: Although the terminology may change the following tenure arrangements are proposed for CCS activities:

• CCS Exploration Permit (CCS EP);

• CCS EP for Retention- Potential Commercial Area (CCS PCA);

• CCS Storage Lease (CCS SL);

EP conditions: A CCS EP will allow the successful proponent to conduct CCS exploration in the permit area and according to the approved work program submitted with the application.

PCA conditions: A CCS PCA will be an option whereby a CCS EP holder has discovered a suitable underground reservoir for CCS storage but no “CCS stream” (yet to be defined) was currently available.

SL conditions: A CCS SL would allow the holder to inject and store a CCS stream into the previously approved CCS reservoir. The activities must be done according to the approved development plan for the project. Site selection will be one of the most important elements of CCS activities with a requirement for a “predictive CCS stream migration model” to be included in the development plan.

Reference: This publication may be printed from or downloaded form the DME website at ww.dme.qld.gov.au For copyright enquries telephone (07) 3237 1644 or send facsimile to (07) 3238 3188. The closing date for submission sis two months from the date of announcement by the Minister. Submissions can be sent by post, facsimile or email. Postal address: Mining Legislation Review, Mining and Petroleum, Department of Mines and Energy, PO Box 15216, City East Qld 4002 Facsimile: (07) 3238 3188 Email: ccsleg@dme.qld.gov.au Please note: This discussion paper is for public discussion and comment and does not commit the government or a Minister either to the views expressed in it or to a particular direction for future action. All submissions will be treated as public documents subject to the Freedom of Information Act 1992. Submissions may take the form of letters or emails addressing the questions asked in the paper, issues of concern, or a list of matters identified by page or section numbers, stating the issues arising and suggested solutions.